SONS OF ANARCHY “Turas” Review

SONS OF ANARCHY “Turas” Season 3 Episode 9 - Let’s get this out of the way first: there is no movement on the Abel plot. At this point we should just suck it up and deal with it. That kid ain’t coming home anytime soon. I’m still completely apathetic about that.

The Jimmy O plot was furthered somewhat, but not enough to make this Ireland visit seem worthwhile. These two episodes have felt like filler to me, doing things that could have been done anywhere, with any characters. The only tangible things to come out of the change of location are blown up Irishmen, a lost chance at offing Jimmy O and potential incest.

The bombing was a great tense moment, and it emphasized just how corrupt SAMBEL are. I liked the scene immediately afterward with everyone gathering their wits, though it felt a little ‘off’, not quite fitting with the usual visual style of the show. However, it did give us a chance to see John Teller, albeit briefly, putting a moving image to the legend.

John Teller is getting a lot of play here in Ireland. The affair/daughter plot point is interesting because it makes the legend more human, but at the same time I kind of liked the idea of John being this totally stand up guy. Of course he was flawed, who isn’t, but being able to gloss over that made him seem like an impossible figure for Jax to aspire to be like.

And Jax is starting to show hints of wanting to follow his father’s initial plan for the Sons, telling Gemma that they brought their current situation on themselves by running guns. He makes a good point – and Gemma knows it. Gemma knows a lot of things. I wish she would impart some of those things to Jax before he gets too close to Trinity. I can’t decide whether that last scene with the pair was innocent or not.

Gemma had an eventful episode herself this week, gaining – and losing – the opportunity to kill Jimmy O. While this is good for Jax and Stahl’s deal, and maybe even saved SAMCROs life, it just served a reminder to me that we have more of this Irish plot to come. I cannot wait for it to end.

I’m much preferring the events back in Charming. Tig and Kozik are still bickering like an old married couple. (The “You know one of us is going to end up dead, right?” “I’m counting on it.” exchange between Kozik and Piney made me smile.) Miles is pretty much confirmed as the favourite prospect choice, thanks to more screen time, lines and the camera angles used.

But this doesn’t mean I found Charming all that interesting, oh no. Unser spends the whole episode following up on something the Sons told him, the Sons go after Salazar and find his house empty. Salazar blackmails Hale. It’s all necessary stuff, but it just felt stodgy.

I think the main problem with Sons of Anarchy right now is that there are too many characters. Between SAMCRO, SAMBEL, Jimmy’s guys, Ashby’s lot, and our Charming residents back home, there are just too many names and faces. My rule of thumb is that once the viewer has to start Googling to find out/help remember a character’s name, something isn’t working. I didn’t give a damn when Jimmy O shot that guy in the head today because I had no idea who he was or if we had even seen him before. It’s just too much.

My favourite scene of the episode is the very last one (which was also the shortest). When Tara tells Murphy about her scheduled abortion, Murphy offers to drive her. This leads to Salazar and his girlfriend causing a small car accident on the way to the clinic to get Tara and Murphy out of the car. Salazar already knows he wants Tara, but he decides to check if Murphy is affliated with any club. Over the past few weeks I’ve been saying that while Gemma is who Tara will become if she stays with the Sons, Murphy is who she will become if she leaves. I never expected it to be quite so literal. Murphy has what seems to be club ink, but which club and whose old lady was she?

What did you think of ‘Turas’? Let us know in the comments below!